The present disclosure relates to the utilization of business system information, and in particular, to systems and methods for identifying and evaluating potentially influential people on a given contact or a particular sales opportunity.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
One of the major functions of a salesperson is to identify potential sales opportunities. The sales opportunities are typically defined by the potential for sale of a particular product to a particular entity, such as a customer company or organization. Once a potential sales opportunity is identified, it is typically up to a salesperson to identify the appropriate personnel (e.g., a purchasing manager or project manager) within the particular entity with whom he should make contact.
Traditionally, contact information, such as name, title, email address, telephone number, and the like, for contacts within customer entities, is stored in electronic business system databases (e.g., a customer relationship management (CRM) system). For example, the business system database may store records for each contact regarding their title, role, or responsibilities. Using such information, the salesperson can easily identify a potentially helpful contact. Specifically, a salesperson may search the contact information records for contacts within a potential customer's organization who may be responsible decision makers for the products and/or projects related to the identified sales opportunity.
Once the appropriate contact is identified, the sales person, and/or team of salespeople, must determine an effective strategy to contact, communicate with, and successfully close a deal with the identified contact. In some scenarios, an effective strategy can include asking fellow salespeople or contacts within the customer entity who have had previous relationships or professional dealings with the identified contact to provide an introduction. In some scenarios, it may even be helpful to ask those with a previous relationship or demonstrated level of influence to be included as part of the sales team, or otherwise be involved with the initiation, negotiation, and or close of the sales opportunity. Such individuals who have previous relationships with the identified contact are referred to herein as “influencers”.
While many individuals, both contacts and fellow employees, may have had previous relationships and/or dealings with the identified contact, it may not be beneficial to include all such individuals as part of the particular sales opportunity. In general, it is best to include the most positively influential individuals in the sales opportunity.